--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Drop a word in the ocean of meaning and…" description: "\"Drop a word in the ocean of meaning and concentric ripples form. To define a single word means to try to catch those ripples. No one’s hands are fast e..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a24/robert-bringhurst-16008_enough_drop-a-word-in-the-ocean-of-meaning-and_2372157.png" --- # Drop a word in the ocean of meaning and concentric ripples… ![“Drop a word in the ocean of meaning and concentric ripples form. To define a single word means to try to catch those ripples. No one’s hands are fast enough.” quote by Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a24/robert-bringhurst-16008_enough_drop-a-word-in-the-ocean-of-meaning-and_2372157.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a24/robert-bringhurst-16008_enough_drop-a-word-in-the-ocean-of-meaning-and_2372157.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a24/robert-bringhurst-16008_enough_drop-a-word-in-the-ocean-of-meaning-and_2372157.png) > “Drop a word in the ocean of meaning and concentric ripples form. To define a single word means to try to catch those ripples. No one’s hands are fast enough.” [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Defining a word is like catching endless ripples; language is vast and elusive. **In simple terms:** Words are infinite ripples. Key Takeaway Accept language’s complexity. Themes language definition complexity Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - writing - teaching - translation Key Concepts semantic ripple linguistic limits communication Questions to Reflect On - How do we convey nuanced meaning? - Can we ever fully capture a concept? A Different Perspective Precise definitions may be impossible. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Meaning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaning/) [Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) [Ripple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ripple/) ## Related quotes > [It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-clinton/it-depends-upon-what-the-meaning-of-the-word-is-means/) [Bill Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-clinton/) > [Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. Not unlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/don-t-get-stuck-on-the-level-of-words-a-word-is-no-more-than-a-means/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [If a word means everything, then in means nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/if-a-word-means-everything-then-in-means-nothing/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“What I was trying to say,” he whispered, “is that I see you in everything. There isn’t a word for you that means enough,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-rossi/what-i-was-trying-to-say-he-whispered-is-that-i-see-you-in-everything/) [Veronica Rossi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-rossi/) > [He gave me his word. That means something to a man like Donovan Caine. Yeah, it means you'll realize he's an exceptionally good liar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-estep/he-gave-me-his-word-that-means-something-to-a-man-like-donovan-caine/) [Jennifer Estep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-estep/) > [I am busy all day long. Never bored - I don't know what the word means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bonynge/i-am-busy-all-day-long-never-bored-i-don-t-know-what-the-word-means/) [Richard Bonynge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bonynge/) > [I never had any childhood, for the word means sunshine and freedom from care. I had a starved and pinched little childhood, as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-leslie/i-never-had-any-childhood-for-the-word-means-sunshine-and-freedom/) Frank Leslie > [Feminism? The word itself means exactly the same thing to me as the word God does - it's a spirituality that is deeply personal,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-tamblyn/feminism-the-word-itself-means-exactly-the-same-thing-to-me-as-the/) [Amber Tamblyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-tamblyn/) > [“You know what a word means when you know how to use it, not what its definition is. That is why we can understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-baggini/you-know-what-a-word-means-when-you-know-how-to-use-it-not-what-its/) [Julian Baggini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-baggini/) > [Just what is meant by 'your word?' It means your conscious intention, your conscious direction, your conscious faith and acceptance that, because of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-holmes/just-what-is-meant-by-your-word-it-means-your-conscious-intention/) [Ernest Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-holmes/) > [I am an artist... It's self-evident that what that word implies is looking for something all the time without ever finding it in full.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/i-am-an-artist-it-s-self-evident-that-what-that-word-implies-is/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [M- O -T -H - E -R M is for the million things she gave me , O means only that she ' s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/m-o-t-h-e-r-m-is-for-the-million-things-she-gave-me-o-means-only-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Abligurition: an actual, if very obscure, English word, which means the spending of too much money on food.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/abligurition-an-actual-if-very-obscure-english-word-which-means-the/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Yorkshire word and means spoiled and”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hodgson-burnett/yorkshire-word-and-means-spoiled-and/) [Frances Hodgson Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hodgson-burnett/) > [“ Human ...I don't know what that word means...Tell me what defines it. What sets it apart? Are you going to tell me its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/human-i-don-t-know-what-that-word-means-tell-me-what-defines-it-what/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) ## More by Robert Bringhurst > [Popularity isn't just something that happens. You have to give something in exchange for it, and that's the dangerous part of the process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/popularity-isn-t-just-something-that-happens-you-have-to-give/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [“Logograms pose a more difficult question. An increasing number of persons and institutions, from archy and mehitabel to PostScript and TrueType, come to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/logograms-pose-a-more-difficult-question-an-increasing-number-of/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [How much money you get, depends on lots of extraneous things. It depends on how good you are at turning poetry into a marketable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/how-much-money-you-get-depends-on-lots-of-extraneous-things-it/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Anxiety projection can and does occur - in myth, in music, in fiction, and in the doctor's office too. That doesn't make it the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/anxiety-projection-can-and-does-occur-in-myth-in-music-in-fiction-and/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [To design things means to interfere with things: to think of how they might be and to alter how they are. Design is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/to-design-things-means-to-interfere-with-things-to-think-of-how-they/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [By all means break the rules.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/by-all-means-break-the-rules/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Poetry, I'm often told, is something made of words. I think it really goes the other way around: words are made of poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/poetry-i-m-often-told-is-something-made-of-words-i-think-it-really/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Typography is to literature as musical performance is to composition: an essential act of interpretation, full of endless opportunities for insight or obtuseness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/typography-is-to-literature-as-musical-performance-is-to-composition/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [By all means break the rules, and break them beautifully, deliberately and well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/by-all-means-break-the-rules-and-break-them-beautifully-deliberately/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Many intellectual heroes in the European tradition seem to find the great outdoors a chilling prospect - and its literary analogue, the mythworld, equally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/many-intellectual-heroes-in-the-european-tradition-seem-to-find-the/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Typography exists to honor content.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/typography-exists-to-honor-content/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Nature, or the world, or reality, is what mythology is all about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/nature-or-the-world-or-reality-is-what-mythology-is-all-about/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Essay on Adam" There are five possibilities. One: Adam fell. Two: he was pushed. Three: he jumped. Four: he only looked over the edge,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/essay-on-adam-there-are-five-possibilities-one-adam-fell-two-he-was/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [Wings are a constraint that makes it possible to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/wings-are-a-constraint-that-makes-it-possible-to-fly/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [In a world rife with unsolicited messages, typography must often draw attention to itself before it will be read. Yet in order to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/in-a-world-rife-with-unsolicited-messages-typography-must-often-draw/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) [Explore all 41 Robert Bringhurst quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) ## More Enough quotes > [I guess at it's very core love is connection that just makes so much sense you wonder how you used to live before you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-stone/i-guess-at-it-s-very-core-love-is-connection-that-just-makes-so-much/) [Benjamin Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-stone/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) Adam Ant > [I've been lucky enough to, for the most part, surround myself with a lot of people who are more talented than me and who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-franco/i-ve-been-lucky-enough-to-for-the-most-part-surround-myself-with-a/) [Dave Franco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-franco/) > [I love because there is not enough room in my heart to hate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rena-kornreich-gelissen/i-love-because-there-is-not-enough-room-in-my-heart-to-hate/) Rena Kornreich Gelissen > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Sometimes it's just enough for me to have the idea. I don't need to see it through to the end. When it actually happens,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/sometimes-it-s-just-enough-for-me-to-have-the-idea-i-don-t-need-to/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [The vast majority of organizations today have more than enough intelligence, experience and knowledge to be successful. What they lack is organizational health.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-lencioni/the-vast-majority-of-organizations-today-have-more-than-enough/) [Patrick Lencioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-lencioni/) > [I'm an actor, so I'm never going to feel like I've done enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italia-ricci/i-m-an-actor-so-i-m-never-going-to-feel-like-i-ve-done-enough/) [Italia Ricci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italia-ricci/) > [I've been to Manchester enough to know it's a real place. It's not Factory Records and the Smiths bicycling around. I get it. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-murphy/i-ve-been-to-manchester-enough-to-know-it-s-a-real-place-it-s-not/) [James Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-murphy/) > [Lutherans, whose arguments and mistakes will not be difficult to contest or discover, do not want to attribute any value to works, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-servetus/lutherans-whose-arguments-and-mistakes-will-not-be-difficult-to/) [Michael Servetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-servetus/) > [Sam dropped me off. When she was too far away to see me, I started to cry again. Because she was my friend again.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/sam-dropped-me-off-when-she-was-too-far-away-to-see-me-i-started-to/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [I just worried about my weight. Worried about my appearance and thought I wan't pretty enough to be a pop star. It was very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-durham/i-just-worried-about-my-weight-worried-about-my-appearance-and/) [Judith Durham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-durham/) > [I don't want this to be a distraction. This has been distracting enough. I'm not going to rehash this going forward. I'm sure other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayson-werth/i-don-t-want-this-to-be-a-distraction-this-has-been-distracting/) [Jayson Werth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayson-werth/) > [New York is large, glamorous, easy-going, kindly and incurious, but above all it is a crucible - because it is large enough to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ford-madox-ford/new-york-is-large-glamorous-easy-going-kindly-and-incurious-but-above/) [Ford Madox Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ford-madox-ford/) Browse all 23,898 Enough quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Drop a word in the ocean of meaning and concentric ripples form. To define a single word means to try to catch those ripples. No one’s hands are fast enough.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Bringhurst" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/drop-a-word-in-the-ocean-of-meaning-and-concentric-ripples-form-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Enough" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/drop-a-word-in-the-ocean-of-meaning-and-concentric-ripples-form-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a24/robert-bringhurst-16008_enough_drop-a-word-in-the-ocean-of-meaning-and_2372157.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a24/robert-bringhurst-16008_enough_drop-a-word-in-the-ocean-of-meaning-and_2372157.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a24/robert-bringhurst-16008_enough_drop-a-word-in-the-ocean-of-meaning-and_2372157.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Drop a word in the ocean of meaning and concentric ripples form. To define a single word means to try to…” — Robert Bringhurst", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robert Bringhurst", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Drop a word in the ocean...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/drop-a-word-in-the-ocean-of-meaning-and-concentric-ripples-form-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/drop-a-word-in-the-ocean-of-meaning-and-concentric-ripples-form-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```